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Kentucky Music Hall of Fame inductions

Pablo Alcala/Herald-Leader & Kentucky.com

Live from the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame induction ceremony...

    While much of Kentucky hid from the slick roads and freezing rain, women in high heels and men in black ties headed into Lexington for the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
    The inductees were country crossover artist Crystal Gayle, singer and TV star Florence Henderson, jazz and soul musician Les McCann, writer and producer Norro Wilson and country singer Dwight Yoakam.
    McCann and Henderson didn’t attend the ceremony, but Gayle was to perform with her sisters Loretta Lynn and Peggy Sue, Billy Bob Thorton recorded a video for Yoakam and George Jones prepared his congratulations for Wilson. A tribute to saxophonist Boots Randolph, a 2004 inductee who died in 2007, started the show.
    Lexington Center’s Bluegrass Ballroom was filled with black tuxes, crushed velvet dresses and sparkling, shining shoes soaked by water and salt.
    “We had a few calls from people saying they couldn’t come, and a few calls from folks asking if they could get tickets,” said Robert Lawson, the Hall of Fame’s director.
    Eight hundred people had tickets for the event, scraped their cars and held up their hems to use their tickets, which cost $125 to $200.
    Inside the ballroom, Dwight Yoakam soundchecked with musicians, singing to a crowd of servers in black uniforms while they scattered salt and pepper shakers on white-clothed tables with red rose centerpieces.
    He swaggered out of the ballroom in scuffed white boots, tight blue jeans, a heavy trench coat and signature cowboy hat and into a lobby just starting to fill with guests.
    They waved for him to stop for photos. As he started to walk away, Mount Vernon Mayor Clarice Kirby jumped over and wrapped her arm around his back saying, “Please, just one.”
    “I didn’t care if I had to beg,” Kirby said.. “I didn’t even tell him I was the mayor.”
    There was little star-gazing as crowds arrived, but the inductees' dinner tables were swarmed by media and camera-toting fans who hovered over their sequins and salads.
    “Isn’t she cute?” a woman whispered, waving for Gayle and Lynn to lean into each other.
    Country artist John Michael Montgomery, wearing head-to-toe black, said he jumped at the chance to introduce Yoakam, but attends the ceremony to see his Kentucky cohorts get some attention.
    “We’ve had tons of talent come out of this state,” he said. “I gotta brag a little bit about that.”

Click below for a list of past Hall of Fame inductees...

The Ice House and the chill on the local scene.

Mark Cornelison/Herald-Leader

This news was buried deep inside the City/Region section of the Herald-Leader today, but The Ice House is closing because of zoning and safety problems. The homemade venue that welcomed all-ages audiences to see local acts and touring bands isn't zoned for public gatherings of more than 50 people. A good show could easily draw more than that.

Ross Compton, pictured above, was the guy behind the venue in many ways. He said in the story that he'll work with the city and owners to try to make it work. Hopefully, it will.

This is one more example of a problem I've seen since moving to Lexington three years ago, a problem that surely existed many years before that: where can all-ages audiences go to enjoy itself here?

The Dame is a local entertainment institution that generally caters only to people ages 21 and older. But high school students, many college students and young people from Central and Eastern Kentucky who make Lexington their main source for entertainment are in a bind.

Venues like The Ice House and once upon a time Mecca and Underlying Themes (remember seeing shows there?) were solutions that came from the community. They were organized and run by local people who saw a need for arts and entertainment for a wider audience and filled it.

City and code enforcement officials understandably have to follow the rules for safety and zoning; if a fire broke out or the roof collapsed, we'd all be horrified and asking how we let this happen. The Ice House was run well, but any spot that holds a lot of people needs some basic safety features like lit exits and doors that open out. Zoning, of course is the bigger on-paper issue, but exemptions are often granted. No telling

The Ice House was a well-known secret. A look at the posters around town or a click on a local band's MySpace page or a listen to a WRFL announcement would tell you all about it. As Compton said in today's story, the shut-down was inevitable.

Angela Baldridge/Herald-Leader

Inevitable, but still a blow to entertainment and arts in the community. The Ice House is a good space that manages to boost local arts and expand our views with out-of-town music and creativity, too. It's exactly the kind of space we need, something that's not The Dame, not Rupp Arena, not Singletary Center and not a house party.

So where's the happy medium between grassroots community problem-solving and necessary safety and zoning regulations?  Does it require a city or arts organization official to act as go-between, someone to guide local ideamakers through the awkward parts of city codes? Does it mean financial breaks to encourage small venues for broader audiences to open close to downtown?

Lexington has a lot of interested parties -- even Vice Mayor Jim Gray lauded venues like The Ice House in today's story -- but nobody really leading the way. We keep chasing this change, this idea of a city we want to be, but it's hard to make any gains when we can't find a way to support creativity, community, arts and engagement.

If you've got an idea, I'd like to see it. Leave a comment here, or write a letter to our editor. Call your Urban County Council member, or look for the tall guy wearing a hoodie at any show in town -- that'd be Ross. Tell whoever you feel most comfortable talking with, but don't keep it to yourself, or inevitably, people trying the hardest will give up completely.

Hardy Strictly Bluegrass on KET tonight

I'm easing back into this whole music-listening, TV-watching, cultural awareness thing. The DVR still has recordings from November on it. The only new music I've heard comes from CDs my lovely pals foisted upon me, maybe because they want to share it, maybe because they're tired of me talking about the Once soundtrack like it's the only album released in the last year.

Emmylou Harris/PBS

But this, I know: Highlights from the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival will be centerstage on Austin City Limits tonight on KET. The show debuted Feb. 2, and features Emmylou Harris, Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson, Ricky Skaggs, and Bruce Hornsby, among others, on KET2 and KETHD at 9 p.m. Wednesday, KETHD at 11 p.m. Feb. 8, KETHD at 10 p.m. Feb. 9 and KET1 at 2 a.m. Mar. 1.

Live outside the KET area? Look for your local listings at PBS.org.

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Read: Mutts!
One of my favorite new comics on the H-L comic pages got all Lebowski on us this week. I just love it.

Music of Coal, Reel World String Band and more KY reads.

I imagine you're all tired out since last night's fabulous PostSecret event at University of Kentucky, but if you can possibly stand any more stimulation and discussion, swing by Joseph-Beth at 7 p.m. tonight for our Herald Readers event.

We're featuring a CD-book, Music of Coal, produced by Jack Wright. Nick Stump and the Reel World String Band will perform.

Here's an NPR story about the CD, a collection of audio clips and Kentuckian's own memories of growing up in coal country.

If you're in the mood for more Kentucky books, check out the Kentucky Book Fair from 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Saturday at the Frankfort Convention CEnter, 405 Mero St. Some of our state’s biggest names, like Wendell Berry and Bobbie Ann Mason, will be there. Look for Drew Curtis, creator of Fark.com and author of It’s Not News, It’s Fark; state poet laureate Jane Gentry Vance, who wrote A Year in Kentucky and Portrait of the Artist as a White Pig; artist and Centre College professor Stephen Rolfe Powell, the subject of Stephen Rolfe Powell: Glassmaker.

And of course, swing by the Herald-Leader table and say hello.

White Stripes in black and white.

UPDATE: Here's the site to purchase. Good luck with that. Only 3,000 of each were made.

A bizarre collision of trendy, weird, impractical and awesome will occur at noon today.

That's when White Stripes special edition toy cameras will go on sale. Lomography and The White Stripes partnered to make the Meg and Jack models. The Meg is a Diana with a ringflash. ("Glamour lighting," my photographer friend calls it. He pointed this out to me; he heard about it from A Photo A Day.) The Jack is a Holga with a fisheye lens.

Let's back up a little: the Holga is a cheapo little camera that takes perfecly miserable photos, emphasis on the perfect. A subculture of Holga nuts has emerged; they love the blur, the streaks, the unpredictable nature of it. The Diana was a 1960s plastic model that's been dead for a long time, but is coming back to a lovely life, in plastic!

At this point, there's no price attached to The White Stripes models, but don't expect it being at a cheapo rate. Of course, it also says that the first 333 people to buy both get a special gift. Oooh, ahh.

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Watch: Samantha Who?
I didn't put this on my list of the best new shows -- Beautiful girl loses her memory after freak accident? Please. -- but it's actually funny. Turns out the beautiful girl was a wench. Totally unsympathetic. It begs the question of what we can change in ourselves, what we can decide and what is innately ours. Watch it at 9:30 p.m. tonight on ABC.

And, on a more somber note...

Read: A New Dawn?
This series by reporter Mary Meehan and photographer David Stephenson follows a young mother through drug court. It's a lot to take in with words and photos. The six-part series will continue this week and next.

Gypsy rock in the Bluegrass: Man Man.

Imagine what Franz Ferdinand might sound like if they became carnies. Or what Gogol Bordello might sound like if they cleaned up just a tad.

That'd leave you with the band Man Man, described quite accurately on wikipedia as "playfully existential United States Viking-vaudeville punk-wop rock-and-soul collective." Sounds a little kooky, sure, but definitely good. So good that it'd be worth catching live; the Philadelphia band opened for Modest Mouse on some tour dates, and is known not to take breaks between songs. (That'll keep the energy up, or wear it down, depending on your perspective.)

You can hear a few songs by clicking here, or just go live: Man Man plays at The Southgate House in Newport tonight and at The Dame on Oct. 13.

Women Writers and Oktoberfest tunes.

On Sunday, the H-L published a one-two punch of stories that made me shriek, "Really? Really!"

First was Cheryl Truman's story about the Kentucky Women Writers Conference, which features a stellar lineup of artists including poet Naomi Shihab Nye, sportswriter Sally Jenkins and authors like Lee Byrd, Helen Oyeyemi and Ann Pancake.

In the past, the conference has been nothing less than a spiritual experience; I expect the events this Friday and Saturday will live up to it. (Even if you're not attending the conference, remember, some events are free and open to the public.)

The other story that made me gape was Walter Tunis' story about Christ the King's Oktoberfest. It's lineup of musicians is one of the most exciting I've seen since moving here: Scott McCaughey of R.E.M. and The Minus 5; Alejandro Escovedo; J.D. Crowe and the New South; my personal favorite on the list, the witty and talented Erin McKeown. (If you haven't heard it yet, do your mood a favor and pick up Sing You Sinners.)

And then I remembered: I'll be in Wisconsin. (Really? Really.) I'm heading to a conference with a fantastic group of women writers, reporters and thinkers.

::sigh::

When did the last weekend in September become so popular?

Emmys, Lebowski and the Lexington Philharmonic.

Well, today has turned into quite a busy day with very little time to blog. Let me tempt you into coming back by pointing out that I'll be blogging the Emmys on Sunday night -- yes, on my couch, very likely in my pajamas. Watch with me!

Also, I'll be posting an interview this weekend with the creators of Lebowski Fest and authors of the new book I'm A Lebowski, You're a Lebowski .

Today, though,  I haven't even had a chance to crack open my own newspaper. One thing I know is going on tonight, though is the Lexington Philharmonic concert. It's at 8 p.m. tonight at the Singletary Center for the Arts at the corner of Rose and Euclid.

Why do I know it's going on? Because I was up at a ridiculous hour piecing together some really interesting audio and video about LexPhil music director George Zack.

Here's  a link to the story and video, or just watch it here.

Apples or White Russians?

We have three awesome events going down in our towns tonight. I hope you'll all take advantage of at least one.

First!
Music: Apples in Stereo will play The Dame tonight with Aqueduct and High Water Marks. Doors open at 8 p.m., and tickets are $10. If you saw the Apples show when they began the tour for New Magnetic Wonder, you know that this is a can't-miss for fans.

Second!
Books and Movies: The Louisville-based founders of Lebowski Fest released the ultimate Lebowski fan guide, I'm a Lebowski, You're a Lebowski. The authors will be signing the book from 7-10 p.m. tonight at the Locker Room Lounge in Vernon Lanes, 1575 Story Ave. in Louisville. (Of course it's at a bowling alley. You didn't think they'd host a book signing in a book store, did you? Please.) I interviewed founding dudes Scott Shuffitt and Will Russell this week, and expect to see parts of the interview in Sunday's Arts & Life section, or if you're not into the whole brevity thing, the full interview online here shortly.

Third!
Inspiration: It's Idea Festival weekend in Kentucky. Today's events kick off with everyone from Nicholas Kristof to Hunter S. Thompson talks. If you can make it to any of these events -- they are so choice -- I highly recommend it.

Songs to distract on a long, loud plane ride.

All right, everyone. I'm back. Again. And not leaving town again for at least a few weeks.

I spent much of my weekend buried in a great book on the beach, touring an odd and interesting little museum and learning a mish-mash of rules to a certain card game that lends itself to imbibing.

And then there was the plane ride back, the one with the 3-year-old in front of you screaming about his little boy bits and the flight attendants singing. (What? That's never happened to you? Huh.)

How should a gal drown that out?

With two new releases: The saucy new Over the Rhine album or the calmest release yet from The New Pornographers.

If you saw Over the Rhine at The Dame this weekend, I envy you. (I mean, I was on a beach in Florida, but STILL. If you were there, tell me how it went. The closest the Cincy band will get to our area in the near future is Columbus on Oct. 6.) The new album among many new releases is The Trumpet Child. The cabaret style is something magical. And the best news? You can listen to the whole thing online! Click that link and go to the "record player."

Now, Challengers, the latest New Pornographers release, is more mellow than Electric Version, Twin Cinema or Mass Romantic. The downshift in energy will probably smite a few fans of their raucous style, but I have to say, it really moved me. I'd call those other albums good for working out, cleaning the house, singing in the car. This is good for staring at the wall and contemplating major life decisions. Or, in my case, the back of an airplane seat.

Now, to get my hungry ears on a copy of the new Rilo Kiley...